


Letters to Tyler

by starringseptiplier



Category: Youtube RPF, jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Mark and Jack are siblings, More tags later, Other, Sibling!Septiplier, cute kid stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 05:57:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8521081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starringseptiplier/pseuds/starringseptiplier
Summary: Being ten years old is hard. Being ten years old after your best friend moves away is even harder. So Mark writes to his friend, just so that Tyler won't forget what it's like back home in Cincinnati. Between Mark's family, his friends, the schoolyard bully, and his four year old brother Jack...Mark's got quite a bit to write about.





	1. The First Letter

**Author's Note:**

> // you've been talking with your fists, we didn't raise you up like this, n o w d i d w e //

_Dear Tyler,_

_I wish you hadn’t moved away. I miss having you next door. It’s lonely without you here. Felix is mean to me on the playground now, and Ms. Lowe gets mad when I run off. But she also gets mad when I hit Felix. There’s no way for me to win without you here. I guess I just have to be sad all the time at school. Is Los Angeles cool? Have you seen any famous people? Does your new room have a window like your old house where you can sit on your roof?_

_Your best friend,_

_Mark_

I sighed as I tore the page of paper out of my notebook, folding it up and putting it in the envelope Mom had given me. On it was my name and address, and Tyler’s name and his new address. It had only been four days since Tyler went away, and my mom said it’s possible they can’t get mail yet, but I miss Tyler so I said I was going to write him anyway.

Tyler and I had been best friends as long as I could remember, because we lived next door. And we went to the same school, and we’d always been in the same class. Sometimes I think the teachers hated that we stayed together all the time, because they would separate me and Tyler in class. But that was okay, because we’d just make faces at each other from across the room.

Even though Bob and Wade were still my friends, I missed having Tyler around. Tyler was the best. He was the biggest and bravest of our group, so when Felix and his friends came to make fun of us, Tyler would stick up for us and Felix would go away. But now that Tyler was gone, Felix didn’t have any reason to stop making fun of us. I tried to run away, but Ms. Lowe, my teacher, got mad that I left the playground. So the next time, I pushed Felix instead of running away. All that got me was a bruise on my arm where Felix punched me back and I had to sit out the rest of recess with him staring at me all angry.

I made a face as I licked the envelope closed. It tasted like trash and I didn’t like it, but after I closed the envelope I hurried downstairs to where my mom was sitting in the living room watching Jack play trucks. Jack’s my little brother. He’s four and he’s usually very annoying. He’s loud and acts like everything he does is amazing and begs me to pay attention to him all the time, even when I’m playing video games. “Mom, can I go put this in the mailbox so the mailman can get it?” I asked sweetly, blinking my brown eyes at her. My mom glanced up, as if she were surprised at the fact I was in the living room at all.

“Oh, yes, dear. Go ahead, but come right back inside. I don’t want you playing outside in your school clothes,” she sounded like she was distracted.  I frowned but nodded.

“I don’t play outside anymore, Mom,” I reminded her as I pulled open the door. “Tyler’s not here to play with.”

“I want to go too! Mark, I go too?” Jack begged, scrambling up from the rug and over to me. I threw a look over at my mom, hoping she told him no.

“Mark, take Jack with you. Jack, hold Mark’s hand,” Mom instructed, and I sighed as his sticky hand weaseled its way into mine. “Mark, don’t let him run off.” I nodded, though I rolled my eyes as Jack and I walked outside. I was nine years old – I wasn’t stupid. I knew not to let Jack run away. Even if that meant I could eat his dessert after dinner.

“What’s that?” Jack asked me, poking his finger at the envelope in my hand.

“It’s a letter for Tyler to read,” I replied a bit grumpily as we made our way down the sidewalk. I let go of Jack’s hand long enough to open the mailbox and shove the letter inside, then grabbed his hand again. “Let’s go back inside.”

Jack nodded happily, skipping alongside me. “I want to write a letter for Tyler.”

“Tyler’s my friend,” I replied immediately, shaking my head. Jack stomped his foot and pouted.

“He’s my friend too!” Jack insisted, but I didn’t answer as I walked back into the living room. “Momma, Mark says Tyler isn’t my friend!”

“Mark, be nice. Jack, Tyler is your friend too.” My mom sounded distracted again, looking up from the couch cushion she’d been staring at. I just hoped she wasn’t looking at the ice cream stain I’d put there about a week ago. It was an accident after all. Jack immediately ran back to his trucks, all but belly flopping onto the floor. I winced but made my way back to the stairs. “Mark, why don’t you come play down here for a while?” Mom asked me, and I stopped, looking down at Jack on the floor.

“I don’t want to, Mom,” I replied quietly. I only liked playing trucks with Tyler and Wade and Bob. “I have homework anyway.”

“I told you to do your homework before writing Tyler,” my mom responded, crossing her arms. I frowned.

“Sorry.” I must have looked extra sad, because Mom’s face got a little sad too.

“It’s okay, love, just go get it done. I’ll call you for dinner,” she replied.

Back in my room, I sat at my desk and stared down at my history homework, spinning my pencil in my hand and trying to connect the state capitals to their states. By the time my mom called me down for dinner, I had finished that and my math homework, which meant my only homework left was reading out loud for ten minutes.

My dad was home now, and I hugged him before I climbed into the seat beside him and across from Jack. Mom put some spaghetti and salad on my plate, and I eyed it hungrily, waiting impatiently for everyone to get some on their plate so we could eat. “So how was school today, Mark?” my dad asked.

“It was okay,” I replied, twirling my fork in my pasta. “Wade and I beat Bob in a race at recess.”

“That’s good. Any more fighting with Felix?” he asked knowingly, and I kept my head bowed, shoving pasta into my mouth quickly. Maybe he’d forget he asked if my mouth was full long enough.

“Ms. Lowe called us again today, Mark. We know what happened,” Mom spoke up. “You can’t keep fighting with him, or you’ll get in really big trouble.”

“He fights with me first,” I mumbled, sauce spraying out of my mouth. Mom made a face and handed me a napkin.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she sighed.

“And no more fighting with Felix. Understand me?” Dad had his Work Voice on, and I nodded immediately.

“Yes, sir,” I replied after I finally swallowed my food. “Can I read to you after dinner?” I asked my dad, and he nodded.

“Sure. I have something you might want to read,” Dad smiled, reaching into his jacket pocket to pull out a letter. My eyes widened.

“Is it from Tyler?” I gasped.

“Sure is,” Dad smiled. “Guess he sent you one as soon as he got to California.”

“Cool!” I gasped, taking the letter in my hand and moving to rip it open.

“Wait until after dinner,” Dad replied, shaking his head. “We don’t want sauce all over it.” He took the letter from me and placed it on the counter behind him. I sighed and rested my head on my hands, staring at it longingly before I picked up my fork reluctantly.

As soon as dishes were cleared off the table, Mom took Jack upstairs for a bath while Dad and I settled onto the couch. Dad held the newspaper from today, and I had Tyler’s letter. “Can I open it now?” I asked quickly.

“Let’s talk first,” Dad replied, and I frowned. I knew what this talk was about. “We have to talk about what happened with Felix.”

“He is mean to me first and Ms. Lowe doesn’t like it when I run off the playground,” I sighed, twisting my hands nervously.

“You can’t keep hitting people, Mark,” Dad told me.

“I pushed him, I didn’t hit him,” I mumbled.

“We didn’t raise you to fight,” my dad replied before he looped his arm over my shoulders. “Now, let’s read this letter.” Grinning and immediately forgetting about the small bit of chastising I’d gotten, I tore open the envelope and gasped as a postcard fell into my lap. The picture was of a big red bridge lit up with lots of lights. “That’s the Golden Gate Bridge,” my dad explained. “It’s in California.”

“Oh,” I nodded, studying the picture a little longer before flipping over the postcard to see Tyler’s handwriting. “Okay, I’m going to read it now,” I told my dad. My dad nodded and read quietly over my shoulder.

_Dear Mark,_

_I just got to California. It’s very sunny, even though it’s supposed to be getting cold like it is back home in Cincinnati. Mom says we’ll get to go to the new house tomorrow, so I get to see my room then. I miss having you to talk to in the car and stuff like that. I got to see my new school today though. It’s HUGE!!! So much bigger than our school. This bridge in the picture is called the Golden Gate. My house is on one side of it so I get to drive across it a lot and look at all the boats in the water. I’ll get to show it to you when you come visit someday. Well Mom’s making me go to bed now so I guess I’ll give her this so she can mail it to you. I miss you._

_Your best friend,_

_Tyler_


	2. Line Leaders and Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //there’s been changes in this house, things you don’t k n o w a b o u t//

_Dear Tyler,_

_Your postcard was really cool. Did you really have to drive all the way across the bridge to get to your new house? I miss having you in class. I don’t have anyone to talk to when Ms. Lowe is being boring during math. We learned how to do division today. Do they do division in California? Last week Jack came home from school with a big sticker that said he was doing great in school and Mom and Dad made a big deal out of it like it was something super cool. All he did was be line leader. When I told them I was line leader, it was no big deal. Maybe it’s because Jack’s a baby. Not like he can do cool things like roller skate like we can. And guess what? Yesterday Molly kissed Wade on the cheek. It was so yucky! Wade got all red so if you want to make fun of him, go ahead. We all did._

_Your best friend,_

_Mark_

Sometimes I love having Jack for a little brother – he always wants to know what I’m doing and he thinks that everything I do is cool. But other times? Other times it blows having a little brother – he always wants to know what I’m doing and he thinks that everything I do is cool. Since he goes to the same elementary school as I do, I have to walk him to class every morning. Jack only goes to school for half a day though, so Mom picks him up way before she picks me up.

“Marky, I get to be line leader again today!” Jack told me proudly as I held his hand as we walked down the hallway to his classroom.

“Cool,” I responded as enthusiastically as I could for 7:30 in the morning. I stopped outside his classroom and shook his hand from mine. “I’ll see you after school, Jack.”

“Bye, Marky. Don’t hit Felix today,” Jack scolded me as well as he could at four years old, and I just sighed. After Jack stepped across to his teacher, I turned on my heel quickly, shoving my hands into my jacket pocket and hurrying toward the fourth grade hall.

“Hi, Mark!” Wade waved at me as I entered the room, and instantly I smiled, hurrying over to where my friends stood by the books.

“Hi!”

“Hey, we’re trying to see if Bob’s mom will let us spend the night Friday,” Wade informed me.

“Cool,” I nodded. “I can ask my mom tonight at dinner!”  Suddenly my day seemed a lot brighter with the idea of going to Bob’s house the next day. Bob had the really cool trampoline and when he had friends over, there was no screen time limits. So we could play video games all we wanted.

The day seemed to drag on. At recess Wade, Bob, and I stayed inside to keep Felix from being mean to us. We’d wanted to play four square, but instead we sat and talked about what kind of pizza Bob’s mom should order for us the next night.

By the time it was late enough for Mom to pick me up from school, I was so excited to ask her if I could go to Bob’s, I could hardly sit still. No sooner had I bounded into the backseat of the car and buckled my seatbelt, I grinned and gave Mom my best innocent face. “Hey, Mom! Can I go to Bob’s house tomorrow night for a sleepover? It’s okay with his mom and everything!”

“Ask your dad tonight,” Mom sounded tired and sad. Immediately my good mood deflated and I shrunk back in my seat.

“Oh. But usually you tell me yes,” I mentioned quietly. I looked over to Jack – maybe he’d made Mom angry earlier. But he was playing with his Transformer action figure quietly, and it didn’t look like he’d been crying or anything.

“I _said_ , ask your father!” Mom repeated, sounding angry. I frowned even deeper and stared out the window, saying no more. Something obviously wasn’t right, and so I just stayed quiet. I watched the scenery pass by me, counting the trees and stop signs. When we got home, Dad’s truck was already in the driveway, which is strange because usually he didn’t come home until almost dinnertime.

“Why’s Daddy home?” Jack spoke up from his car seat while Mom unbuckled him. I casted a glance toward my mom, curious as well but not enough to verbalize it.

“He came home from work early, is all,” my mom replied softly, settling Jack on her hip before smiling at me. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, baby,” she told me, and I shrugged.

“It’s okay,” I replied, following her inside. I could hear the TV on in my parents’ room, so I hurried in there, jumping up onto the bed beside my dad. “Hi, Dad!”

“Hi, bud,” Dad smiled, moving to ruffle my hair. “How was school?”

“It was good. Mommy was mad in the car on the way home,” I sighed sadly before peeking up at my dad. “I asked her if I could go to Bob’s house tomorrow and she yelled at me to ask you.” I snuggled closer to Dad’s arm, and I felt him sigh really big.

“I’m sorry she yelled at you, bud. Mom just had a bad day today. You can go to Bob’s tomorrow,” he told me. I smiled up at him.

“Thanks, Dad. Why’d you come home from work early?” I asked.

“Because your mom was having a bad day,” he replied. “It’s okay now, though,” he promised me. I frowned.

“Did Mom have a bad day because of me?” I wondered.

“No, buddy, of course not! We just had to talk about some grownup things,” he told me before sitting up straighter. “Did you check the mail today?”

“Not yet!” I gasped, scrambling off his bed. “I’m going to check right now!” I ran out of the room and back to the front door, yanking it open.

“Where are you going?!” my mom scolded, her hand reaching out and grabbing me by the arm, hard. I cried out and turned to her. Immediately she let go, her eyes widening. “Oh, Mark, I’m sorry,” she gasped. Jack stood in the living room, looking at me, confused.

“I was gonna check the mail,” I croaked out, trying not to cry. Ten year olds don’t cry. My dad appeared in the front hallway, walking over to my mother and placing a hand on her shoulder. “That hurt,” I whimpered.

“I’m so sorry,” Mom whispered, covering her mouth. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. You just scared me,” she said. I cocked my head to the side. Since when did going outside scare my mom?

“Go check the mail, Mark,” my dad said quietly, pulling Mom closer to him. “It’s okay. Take Jack with you.” I didn’t argue, just held out my hand to my little brother. Jack scrambled over and tightly gripped my hand in his. Together we stepped outside and Jack skipped beside me all the way to the mail box.

I jerked open the box excitedly, reaching in and frowning when there was no mail. My shoulders slumped and I closed the door to the mailbox. “There’s nothing,” I told Jack, who nodded and started back toward the house. I frowned even harder as I counted in my head how many days it had been since I’d sent Tyler a letter. It’d been almost a week.

“Why’s Mommy angry?” Jack asked.

“I dunno.”

“Do you want to play trucks?” Jack continued as we got to the porch. “Please, Marky? Pretty please?”

“Sure,” I replied quietly. “We can even play them in my room,” I told him. Being in my room meant Mom didn’t have to watch over Jack. I didn’t want to see Mom right now. Playing trucks with Jack was much different than playing trucks with Bob, Wade, and Tyler, but I had kind of missed playing trucks. So playing with Jack wasn’t that bad.

Dinner was quiet that night. Mom didn’t say much, neither did me or Dad. Jack was really the only one who talked, and all he talked about was being line leader again. When dinner was done and I had cleared my plate, I went back up to my room to read.

I smiled when I got into my room, because there was an envelope sitting on my pillow that hadn’t been there when I’d gone down to dinner. Maybe Dad put it there before he came to the table. Jumping onto my bed, I ripped open the envelope and opened a letter that I recognized as Tyler’s hand writing.

_Dear Mark,_

_Being line leader isn’t that cool anyway. You know what is cool? I can see the ocean from my new school! It’s really cool. I met another guy named Mark. He’s in my class. He’s not as cool as you are, though._

_When I talked to Wade on the phone the other day I kept making kissing noises and it was really funny! He said he wished he could punch me. Maybe that’s a cool thing about being all the way in California. I can make fun of you guys without getting hurt._

_Mom and Dad bought me a new bike when we got here, and it’s really cool because I get to ride it to school every day. I even got a lock for it so it doesn’t get stolen when I leave it outside all day. I miss riding around the park with you and Bob and Wade after school._

_When you guys have a sleepover next, you should all call me so I can be a part of it too. I really miss you guys. The people here aren’t as nice as the people in Cincinnati._

_I’m sending you a present soon with my next letter, so you better be excited._

_Your best friend,_

_Tyler_


End file.
